Instance space based management pack infrastructure

Abstract

Techniques are described herein for using a management pack to define a structure of management packs. A management pack is business logic expressed in terms of an extensible language, such as extensible markup language (XML). Instances of entities that are described by a management pack are stored in an instance space that is defined by the management pack. An entity can be a computer, software program, employee, customer, management pack, management pack element, or anything else in the system that an administrator may wish to describe. A management pack that defines the structure of management packs is referred to as a “management pack management pack” (MPMP). Accordingly, management packs (including MPMPs) having a structure that is defined by a MPMP are stored in an instance space that is defined by the MPMP. The instance space that is defined by the MPMP is materialized in a database.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 validating a first management pack at a manager using one or more processors of the manager, the first management pack defining a structure of the first management pack and at least one second management pack; and 
 providing the first management pack to an instance space that is materialized in a database, the instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 validating the at least one second management pack at the manager based on the structure defined by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 enabling a client to interpret the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 querying the database for an instance of the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 querying the database for an instance of an entity that is defined by the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first management pack specifies at least one of a management pack type definition or a management pack class definition that is associated with the at least one second management pack. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a management pack element that satisfies one or more criteria of the at least one second management pack; and 
 automatically generating a serialization object model corresponding to the management pack element based on the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a management pack element that satisfies one or more criteria of the at least one second management pack; and 
 automatically installing a handler corresponding to the management pack element to perform a serialization operation with respect to the management pack element. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a management pack element that satisfies one or more criteria of the at least one second management pack; and 
 automatically performing a validation handler operation for semantically validating the management pack element. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a management pack element that satisfies one or more criteria of the at least one second management pack; and 
 automatically generating an application programming interface for retrieving one or more instances of the management pack element from the database. 
 
     
     
       11. A method comprising:
 receiving a first management pack at a database, the first management pack defining a structure of the first management pack and at least one second management pack; and 
 storing the first management pack at the database in an instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 storing the at least one second management pack at the database in the instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 storing an instance of a management pack element that is included in the first management pack at the database in the instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 storing an instance of an entity that is defined by a management pack that is included in the at least one second management pack at the database in the instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 providing the instance of the entity in response to receiving a query for an instance that satisfies one or more criteria, which are specified by the management pack that is included in the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first management pack specifies at least one of a management pack type definition or a management pack class definition that is associated with the at least one second management pack. 
     
     
       17. A manager comprising:
 a validation module executed in at least one processor and having logic configured to validate a first management pack that defines a structure of the first management pack and at least one second management pack, the validation module further configured to validate the at least one second management pack based on the structure defined by the first management pack; and 
 a providing module configured to provide the first management pack to an instance space that is materialized in a database, the instance space described by the first management pack. 
 
     
     
       18. The manager of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a client enabling module configured to enable a client to interpret the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       19. The manager of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a query module configured to query the database for an instance of a management pack element that is included in the at least one second management pack. 
 
     
     
       20. The manager of  claim 17 , wherein the first management pack specifies at least one of a management pack type definition or a management pack class definition that is associated with the at least one second management pack.